4 ms·

A solidly brewed quality coffee can produce the same effects and should have minimal bitterness or acidity. The technique and beans are what matter. I'm pretty

A solidly brewed quality coffee can produce the same effects and should have minimal bitterness or acidity. The technique and beans are what matter. I'm pretty skeptical about the pooping.

throwaway9848 13y ago
Agreed. I think that that most people that would like Civet poop coffee would find this good: buy a Hario, prepare one cup at ~1.5 times average strength, toss it, and brew a second cup from the previously extracted grinds.
pault 13y ago
A double-blind taste test would be very interesting, but in my experience the kopi luwak is noticeably less bitter and acidic than the least bitter and acidic solidly brewed quality coffee I've had :) It's worth a try if you've never had it, at least.
- fennecfoxen 13y ago
  It sounds like the original format, where you let the wild critters themselves choose the coffee berries instead of feeding them in cages, is likely to have produced a superior product.
peterwwillis 13y ago
No, you're 100% right, the claims are bullshit. Less proteins in the coffee bean = less flavor. http://sprudge.com/say-no-to-kopi-luwak.html http://sprudge.com/say-no-to-kopi-luwak.html
- pault 13y ago
  I'm definitely open to the possibility that the effect is purely psychological. Not unlike the wine experts that were fooled by white wine with red food coloring.
  - jrockway 13y ago
    What were the qualifications of these "wine experts"? I read the original paper and the word "expert" is used only three times in the entire paper, and long after they talk about the subjects.
    - lucisferre 13y ago
      This was the article if I recall (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tasting-junk-science-analysis http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tas...). And it doesn't actually prove experts can't tell the good from the bad in black and white terms, but simply that given the same wines they may rate them differently each time.

A solidly brewed quality coffee can produce the same effects and should have minimal bitterness or acidity. The technique and beans are what matter. I'm pretty skeptical about the pooping.

throwaway9848 13y ago

Agreed. I think that that most people that would like Civet poop coffee would find this good: buy a Hario, prepare one cup at ~1.5 times average strength, toss it, and brew a second cup from the previously extracted grinds.

pault 13y ago

A double-blind taste test would be very interesting, but in my experience the kopi luwak is noticeably less bitter and acidic than the least bitter and acidic solidly brewed quality coffee I've had :) It's worth a try if you've never had it, at least.

fennecfoxen 13y ago
It sounds like the original format, where you let the wild critters themselves choose the coffee berries instead of feeding them in cages, is likely to have produced a superior product.

peterwwillis 13y ago

No, you're 100% right, the claims are bullshit. Less proteins in the coffee bean = less flavor. http://sprudge.com/say-no-to-kopi-luwak.html http://sprudge.com/say-no-to-kopi-luwak.html

pault 13y ago
I'm definitely open to the possibility that the effect is purely psychological. Not unlike the wine experts that were fooled by white wine with red food coloring.
- jrockway 13y ago
  What were the qualifications of these "wine experts"? I read the original paper and the word "expert" is used only three times in the entire paper, and long after they talk about the subjects.
  - lucisferre 13y ago
    This was the article if I recall (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tasting-junk-science-analysis http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tas...). And it doesn't actually prove experts can't tell the good from the bad in black and white terms, but simply that given the same wines they may rate them differently each time.